Facebook favours clients over competition for financial gain

Recently we have been witness to Google’s bid for cyber domination, slowly creeping into the territory of social networks such as Facebook under cover of the net. The search engine has invaded the cyber world, taking on any and all services they find however, that world wide social network with an ever growing reputation and client base, Facebook, do not wish to enter into a conflict with Google. Facebook is staying dedicated to its users favouring a user friendly service over warfare. If Facebook were to take Google on it would be a tough fight. They would it seems much rather spend their time and effort improving the social service than waste energy working towards financial gain.

Google, although covering a wide range of internet services, has already seen Facebook’s popularity and audience consisting of anyone with the internet and umm … a face I suppose … as a threat. They have begun a mission to expand into social networking in the hopes of adding a few more zeros on the end their bank balance. I think perhaps Google may be getting ahead of itself as it continues quite rapidly to expand within the World Wide Web.

Google’s venture into the real world in the form of the Nexus One has already been met with many a problem. The mobile device from Google has seen hardware failures in the form of its touch controls malfunctioning upon start-up and a less than reliable 3g facility leaving users unable to access the web not for hours but days. Home users have also had problems with accessing their home wireless networks and Wi-Fi outside of the home. Google have also been criticized for the lack of durability in regards to the fragile screens on their device.

Many users have had problems accessing 3rd party applications via the Nexus One, with an unusually high amount of them either failing or not working at all. Then, when these problems appear, they are unable to obtain help as the call centres are unable to deal with the vast amount of calls. Perhaps there may be a connection, or in Google’s case, a lack of connection here. Whilst Google have been ringing round looking for help, Facebook has concentrated on reliability and, instead of manufacturing mobile phones; they have applications on almost every one capable of using them. This means they have used less money, time, and resources and their clients have not experienced any problems as a result.

Facebook has been taking small steps towards expansion however and are going to give more freedom and options to their fans whilst using their services. Google’s apps are limited but Facebook has an ever growing cartel of apps as their users can create their own, leaving Facebook admin to continue improving upon the current format and those uninterested in app development to enjoy the work of those who do.

Farmville alone has sparked off a new craze within the social world as users are stuck to their monitors watching their crops grow as Facebook are reaping the rewards in the form of yet more users. I may recall hearing of a certain person locked in a six hour non-stop tournament of Bubbletown, but I can’t seem to remember who that was exactly. But it wasn’t me! Honestly …. no … it was not! Ok perhaps it may have been… leave me alone!

Facebook has a client base of at least 400 million active users with 50 percent of them logging on each day and each of these having around 130 friends (on average). Facebook told us at The Economic Voice that they were interested in their surfers, not in a skirmish with Google;

“The tech industry has room for many different services. Facebook’s goal is to help people share and connect regardless of what services they use.”

Which is exactly what they are doing, as more and more sites, networks and blogs are integrating with the social platform? This includes applications on start pages such as netvibes, which allows you to keep up to date on all things Facebook, whilst carrying on with those other surfing tasks.

Both Google and Facebook have good services and a wide range of them although it seems that Google may be concentrating more on expansion and not paying enough attention to their current services. So, Google may very well be on the attack, but when they encounter Facebook they may well be faced with a nice cup of tea and a few bickies, as opposed to a battle.

6 Comments

L.N.
on April 27, 2010 at 5:05 pm

Dear Facebook, I have noticed that the "apps" and "games" list is gone from Facebook, that is, it's not gone, but the link to the list is gone, so most users won't find it. I'm not sure why you would delete a perfect fine feature like that, but for indie developers (which can't afford to spend much on adds) this is catastrophic. It basically means that only big studios like Zynga & co will have any exposure and the only games that will get promoted are the ones that sell virtual goods. This is also bad for those players that like to browse for games which don't necessarily have a great business plan and venture capital backing, but are just for fun. So please Facebook, for us indies, put a link to the apps page again (www.facebook.com/apps). Thanks !

Jason
on April 29, 2010 at 8:50 pm

Could you cite sources please for those statements about frequent Nexus One problems? I am considering buying the phone. Such problems would be a serious concern for me but I have not found any references to them outside this article.